How The Division 3 Could Revolutionize Heartland and Transform Lives
The Division 3's announcement has raised questions about its co-existence with the mainline entry Explore how Heartland can benefit from its spin-off without overshadowing it and the importance of finding its unique identity
Highlights
The Division 3 is confirmed to be in active development and will be released after The Division Heartland, with separate areas of focus in design.
To achieve staying power, The Division Heartland, created by Red Storm Entertainment, must distinguish itself from its competitors and overcome the shadow of The Division 3. Its success hinges on establishing a unique identity as a prominent extraction shooter and leveraging The Division 3's launch to attract and engage a strong playerbase with immersive gameplay.
Ubisoft has officially announced the development of The Division 3, which is scheduled for release after The Division Heartland in 2023. Despite sharing similarities, the two games have distinct design focuses and can coexist harmoniously. The Division 3, developed by Red Storm Entertainment, is expected to offer more than just a temporary placeholder between main entries in The Division.
The announcement of The Division Heartland received mixed reactions from the fan base. This upcoming addition to the franchise will prioritize PvPvE gameplay and draw inspiration from the popular Survival game mode from the original Division. Red Storm Entertainment, after assisting Massive Entertainment in developing the first two games, now has the opportunity to lead their own project set in the Division universe. The game's unique rural setting and emphasis on the Dark Zone's gameplay loop could be a winning combination. However, in a market saturated with extraction shooters and with the looming presence of The Division 3, The Division Heartland must differentiate itself in order to sustain its popularity.
The Division 3 Does Not Have to Usurp Heartland
Despite the limited information available, it is possible to speculate on the direction The Division 3 will take. It is likely that the game will be set in a major American city, such as Chicago or Los Angeles, where players will assume the role of SHD sleeper agents tasked with rebuilding society after a bioterrorism attack. With the focus on PvPvE elements in The Division Heartland, it is reasonable to expect that The Division 3 will prioritize its narrative and endgame PvE content. While it is unlikely, there is a chance that the Dark Zone will be omitted in favor of a coexistence with The Division Heartland, offering players enhanced versions of both gameplay styles.
Following the release of The Division 2, fans expressed concerns when The Division Heartland was announced in 2021, fearing that it indicated a change in direction for the franchise. The future of The Division 3 was uncertain at that point, and there was concern that Ubisoft may have abandoned it in favor of following industry trends. These anxieties were heightened by Massive Entertainment's workload, which included Star Wars Outlaws and its anticipated sequels. Now that The Division 3 has been officially revealed, the scrutiny surrounding The Division Heartland has diminished, allowing it to exist as a genre experiment without the burden of being a mainline entry.
The Division Heartland's Success Will Hinge on Finding Its Identity
The Division 3 is still several years away, possibly not being released until 2028 due to the lack of any platform announcements. This means that players will have to wait until the next console generation to play the game. In the meantime, The Division Heartland could serve as a strategic substitute for the franchise while its main developer takes a break. There is potential for The Division Heartland to remain relevant until The Division 3 is released, enabling the two titles to complement each other. The success of this strategy largely depends on how well Red Storm Entertainment can execute it.
Ideally, The Division Heartland would establish itself as a staple extraction shooter, drawing inspiration from popular games like Escape From Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. If it can achieve this, the release of The Division 3 could enhance the playerbase of The Division Heartland instead of simply replacing it as the newest installment in the series. Offering a combination of intense apocalyptic storytelling and competitive PvPvE gameplay on two separate fronts could create the perfect ecosystem for fans of The Division.
The Division 3 is in development.
